SMED-7972

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Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos. Heading 2 Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. 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Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos. Heading 4 Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos. Related Posts How to test the Yoast Blocks Just add them to any page/post and it should work as expected How to test the Yoast Blocks Just add them to any page/post and it should work as expected What is a Yoast block? Just a SEO-based block that was configured by the Yoast team What is a Yoast block? Just a SEO-based block that was configured by the Yoast team This is a classic block test, we are testing different features and there baseline functionalities. Does this work? What about this? Can I make a list? List Item 1 List Item 2 List Item 3 What about ordered? Item Item Item This is pretty cool This is even better What about this?

Making it as easy for patients to book and attend appointments will be critical during flu season. See how healthcare providers can prepare.

Discover how Experian Health’s solutions can help providers can find unidentified insurance coverage and reduce bad debt.

Discover 6 effective, data-driven revenue cycle management strategies that can help healthcare providers increase cashflow.

Discover three areas where automation can help ease the burden of the healthcare staffing crisis while creating better patient experiences.

Learn more about health insurance eligibility verification software and how it accelerates eligibility verifications, reduces denials and and much more.

Learn how to proactively verify insurance eligibility to maintain cash flow and help patients navigate as the COVID-19 public health emergency ends.

With the Appropriate Use Criteria program slated to go into effect in 2023, healthcare providers shoud implement new alerts for prior authorizations.

COVID-19 provided an unexpected use case for patient portals. In a matter of weeks, the benefits of remote patient access were undeniable. Patient portals allowed patients to schedule, register and pay for care from the comfort and safety of home. Now, as the latest omicron sub-variant triggers another surge in case numbers, providers are again reminded of the value in making digital channels available to minimize face-to-face interaction. With staffing shortages continuing and patient numbers rising, it’s worth recapping the benefits of patient portals. Why should healthcare providers prioritize patient portals? Here are 7 reasons: 1. Patient portals can be used to communicate safely with patients as Covid-19 cases rise Health officials may be cautious about reinstating extreme measures in response to the latest wave of infections. However, they can’t afford to be complacent about an uptick in hospital admissions. Patient portals can mitigate the risks associated with increasing foot traffic by allowing patients to schedule and register for care without attending in person. Completing paperwork from home eliminates the need for patients to share clipboards or sit in stuffy waiting rooms, while online scheduling platforms enable staff to manage the flow of patients safely and efficiently. Remote patient monitoring, secure messaging and online prescription refill requests can also be managed via portals, further reducing the need for in-person visits. 2. They can ease pressure on understaffed teams Providers need to find efficient ways to handle the administrative workload that comes with higher patient volumes. It’s even tougher given increasing retirement and resignation figures. More nurses are embracing the occupational benefits of remote and virtual care and are opting to switch from high-stress facilities to telehealth positions. While this speaks to the growth and impact of remote healthcare, it leaves a gap to be filled in hospitals. Patient portals can alleviate some of the burdens by reducing the need for staff input at various points in the patient journey. For example, online scheduling reduces the number of calls to call centers. Pre-filled data and automated registration can reduce the risk of errors during patient intake, which are time-consuming to fix. Portals can also be used to help patients navigate the payments process, speeding up collections and reducing the time staff spend chasing payments. 3. Patient portals can address inefficient patient access workflows Because patient portals are tethered to the patient’s electronic health record (EHR), they provide a hub for every piece of data relating to the patient. Patients can access that golden record at any time. They get an engaging and transparent experience, and are less likely to call up to ask questions – they already have the answers. They can also check data to make sure that it’s accurate, which helps avoid the delays and misunderstandings that cause friction for patient access teams. It’s important to ensure that the portal itself doesn’t introduce friction. Patients need to be able to enroll in the portal without too much trouble. Automating the patient enrollment process and implementing a multi-layered identity-proofing solution can create a secure and efficient way for patients to get the most out of their portal, without compromising safety or efficiency. 4. To improve patient engagement and meet consumer expectations One of the biggest reasons to invest in patient portals is because patients say they want them. Research from Experian Health and PYMNTS found that 44.1% of patients have obtained test results through patient portals, while 18% used patient portals to fill out forms for their most recent healthcare visit. Overall, two-thirds said they use patient portals. Beyond offering a convenient patient experience, this is also a matter of patient loyalty and retention: 61% of patients say they’d consider switching providers to one that offered a patient portal, which could have a significant impact on revenue. 5. They can boost revenue by offering easy ways to pay Experian and PYMNTS research shows that around a fifth of patients uses their portal to make payments. Unfortunately, 16% of those patients said they’d faced difficulty viewing invoices, setting up payment plans and making payments through their portal, which suggests some room for improvement. Experian Health’s Patient Payment Solutions solves these challenges. A range of self-service, mobile-optimized tools simplify the patient financial journey by giving patients upfront pricing estimates, personalized payment plans and easy ways to pay. 6. Using patient portals can improve health outcomes (especially for “frequent flyers”) Patient portals also play an important role in promoting better health outcomes for patients. Research shows that when patients have access to their medical information, they feel empowered and prepared to speak to their doctor and adhere to care strategies. Multiple providers can engage with the patient through the same platform, and see what other treatments are being prescribed. This helps improve communication between the patient and provider and helps improve care management. It’s especially useful for older patients and those with chronic conditions. In this way, portals support effective care coordination, helping value-based care providers achieve their goals of reducing healthcare costs, promoting population health and closing the gaps in care that have widened over the last few years. 7. Patient portals can support compliance with price transparency regulations Finally, portals offer a route to ensuring compliance with new regulatory requirements around price transparency. The No Surprises Act and hospital price transparency rule call on providers to give patients accurate, upfront cost estimates so they can plan for their financial responsibility more easily. Patient Payment Estimates can be delivered in several ways, including through patient portals. And as noted, once the patient has their estimate, they can also be directed to easy and convenient payment methods, including through their portal. Whether it’s a surge in COVID-19 cases, rising inflation, or labor shortages, providers must find ways to build resilience, stay competitive, and continue to offer patients the flexible and transparent healthcare experience they desire. Patient portals should be part of the plan to open the digital front door. Contact us to find out how Experian Health helps healthcare organizations deliver a reliable and secure patient portal experience.

Discover how Dayton’s Children Hospital used PatientDial to boost collection rates and streamline patient communications.

To ensure the patient’s financial journey goes ahead without a hitch, follow this 10-step healthcare revenue cycle flowchart.

Healthcare revenue cycle challenges exist at every stage of the patient journey. Discover the top 7 and strategies to overcome them.

Collections were tough even before COVID-19 hit. Provider’s bottom lines were already strained, and the high-deductible trend continued, putting patients on the hook for a bigger chunk of their medical bills.   A highly volatile – but improving – employment environment hasn’t helped, and some patients’ ability to pay hasn’t kept pace with their growing financial responsibilities. Many have new health plans, lapsed coverage or are more focused on other debts, making collections even less predictable. Providers may also feel that payer policy changes haven’t made recouping lost pandemic revenue any easier, with some losing two whole business days per week to completing prior authorizations. It’s no wonder that nearly one in five providers have overhauled their patient collections strategy in the last year.   Now, after a year of the pandemic’s impact on revenue, three dominant trends continue in this space: rising patient balances, an accelerated move toward innovative payment experiences that are moving toward digital engagement as a preferred option to paper or “payment at the counter,” and a realization that compassion is a key factor in solving this challenge.   Avoiding new pitfalls in patient collections   Go-to strategies for improving patient collections before the pandemic might have only included offering more patient payment options, doing more to check for missing coverage, or focusing efforts on patients who are most likely to pay. These are sensible options but, if implemented poorly, they’re more of a band-aid than a cure. Some shortcomings include:   Models relying on historical payment data don’t show the full picture Providers know that focusing their collections efforts on patients who are most likely to pay is the most efficient approach. But determining a patient’s ability to pay on historical payment data alone is likely to be unreliable.   Experian Health’s research suggests that when a collections model relies on historical data alone, around 50% of accounts end up being worked on the basis of no data at all. New accounts are assigned to a “highly likely to pay” segment, whether or not that reflects the reality of their situation. This model costs four times more than utilizing Experian Health’s Collections Optimization Manager, which can predict the ability of patients to pay, even without historical payment, by using multiple data sources.   Collections based on limited data will require more resources to work more accounts, but which ultimately will collect the same as collections based on multiple data sources.   Beware of artificial claims about artificial intelligence To streamline workflows and avoid losing staff hours to inefficient processes, many providers are turning to automated patient collection solutions. Artificial intelligence in healthcare is an exciting prospect, but not all solutions are what they seem.   Matt Baltzer, Product Director at Experian Health, says:   “Many collections tools claim to use artificial intelligence when they’re really using basic automations based on incomplete data. Since the quality of the output is only as good as the data that’s put in, the insights generated by these tools will be severely limited.”   To solve the collections workflow challenge, providers need an end-to-end strategy that integrates multiple high quality data sources, intelligent analytics and a responsive platform that learns and adapts in order to prioritize patients and communicate with them in a way that makes collections easier. Cash payments and price transparency can be part of, but not all of, the solution One way to smooth out a bumpy revenue cycle is to offer discounts to patients who pay in cash. It saves on admin costs and guarantees at least some of the bill will be paid. While this makes sense for minor ailments, admin and treatment costs for chronic conditions and major medical events remain persistently high. A resilient collections strategy needs to work across the board, addressing the many treatments, procedures and care plans that providers deliver and manage every day.   Requirements for improved collections, post-COVID-19 The cohesive, integrated model that providers need has the following key elements:   Multi-data sources for comprehensive analysis Optimal collections modeling uses different sources of data to build a more reliable prediction about a patient’s ability to pay. Combining credit data, behavioral modeling and socio-economic insights can help providers better understand their patients’ financial situation and group them accordingly – quickly and accurately.   Convenience and clarity for patients and staff Automated workflows with easy-to-use interfaces will make collections easier for staff, and eliminate time-wasting manual tasks. At the same time, a smoother, more targeted collections process means staff can engage with patients on the basis of accurate information, with fewer (and less stressful) calls and emails.   Advanced data analytics and automation for fewer errors and denials In-depth data analytics allow providers to screen and segment patients quickly to help prioritize accounts by payment probability, to achieve a higher rate of collections. A tool such as Collections Optimization Manager will evaluate collection performance in real-time, to help providers forecast patient payments and avoid bad debt. Expert consultancy support to stay on top of industry trends With the payments landscape in constant flux, having an expert on hand to help navigate the changes and advise on industry trends is a major asset. Experian Health’s team stands ready to help providers monitor and improve collections with industry insights and best practice strategies.   Find out how Collections Optimization Manger can help your organization avoid patient collections pitfalls and reduce lost revenue in the wake of the pandemic.

Product featured in this article: Coverage Discovery As of the end of March 2021, more than 53 million Americans have been fully vaccinated, allowing for cautious optimism as we prepare for the next phase of the COVID-19 journey. Unfortunately for pharmacists, the vaccination program has compounded many of the challenges of the last 12 months. Shots may be free to patients, but someone has to pay for them – and getting reimbursed is proving to be a major pain. Complicated billing processes, extra billing audits and mountains of extra paperwork, rejected claims and slow payments are not exclusive to pharmacies helping vaccinate America. With the coronavirus pandemic continuing to muddy the insurance landscape, getting hold of missing dollars is challenging. Healthcare reimbursements haven’t been straightforward for other providers either: widespread coverage loss and uncompensated care is putting extra strain on hospital revenue cycles. With the coronavirus pandemic continuing to muddy the insurance landscape, getting hold of missing dollars is challenging. Providers must find ways to quickly and accurately determine each patient’s coverage status to minimize bad debt. Navigating the complex world of post-COVID healthcare coverage What does the reimbursement landscape look like, one year on? After a long wait, elective procedures are back. But the surge in patient volumes means providers must be on their toes to keep track of coverage. The process for doing so must be streamlined and precise. Ramping up capacity to verify and check coverage without burdensome paperwork is a must. Patient intake is under pressure. More patients are coming through the doors as a result of elective services and vaccination programs (though not always to their usual facility). COVID-19 hasn’t gone away, and with pockets of infection spikes, safety remains a top priority. Capturing adequate insurance information in this context is no mean feat. Running automated coverage checks as soon as the patient arrives will minimize face-to-face contact during admissions and avoid delays. Patient access and collections staff are overburdened. Manual checks are difficult when staff are operating remotely or in a socially distanced environment, and patient information might be incomplete. Automated self-pay scrubbing can help handle the volume. A tool with built-in reporting can also offer insights on workflow and productivity, to help spot opportunities for quicker claims processing. New digital healthcare technologies aren’t always covered by insurers. Telehealth, a life raft during COVID-19, tends to be covered less often by private insurers, compared to Medicare and Medicaid. Coverage checks must factor this in to avoid errors and wasted time. Providers should opt for tools that sweep for payer updates to telehealth coverage to avoid unnecessary delays or denials. Employment levels may be inching upwards again, but tracking coverage remains a challenge as patients start new jobs with new health plans. In addition, checking for Medicare coverage in the midst of changing codes and protocols is time consuming and confusing. A third-party resource such as Coverage Discovery can look for all coverage options and make sure the right bill goes to the right payer. Find missing dollars with Coverage Discovery Hospitals, pharmacists and other healthcare providers can’t afford to continue losing money at a time when every dollar is needed to prepare for “after COVID-19.” Experian Health’s Coverage Discovery is a proven system for tracking down missing coverage quickly and easily, to avoid unnecessary revenue loss. Using billions of data assets and intelligent confidence scoring, it combs through multiple government and commercial payer accounts to maximize actionable coverage. Staff can trust the outputs and focus their attention where it’s really needed. By making coverage identification more efficient and accurate, it’s a shot in the arm for providers in need of faster reimbursements. Contact us to see how Coverage Discovery can be easily integrated into your revenue cycle, so you can maximize reimbursements over the coming weeks and months.

As Spotify and Amazon can attest, digital technology plus personalization is a winning formula. Consumers want anytime-anywhere access to the services and products they enjoy, without having to sift through irrelevant information. They want tailored recommendations that will make their life easier. More than eight in ten consumers say they’re more likely to choose businesses that treat them like a person instead of just a number. The pay-off for business—and health plans—is huge: by paving the way for better services, better relationships and a better consumer experience, personalization boosts profits, too. There’s one challenge: delivering personalization requires data. Health plans that want to offer a member-centric experience need the right insights to build a complete picture of what individual members need and want. Yet many health plans are forced to work from stale or incomplete data, notably when CMS hands over a new list of members or a new employer signs on to the plan. A system like that makes it nearly impossible to provide meaningful personalization, and consequently, the member experience suffers. With originally sourced data and consumer insights, health plans can fill in the missing links in member profiles and maximize opportunities to improve the consumer experience. Here, we look at how three specific data-driven strategies could help your health plan attract and retain satisfied members and demonstrate digital excellence by using personalization to drive improvements in communications and care. Personalize member communications for maximum engagement By looking beyond simple demographic data and clinical information, health plans can discover what really matters to members. Consumer data provides detailed insights about the kind of content that will resonate most with the member’s lifestyle, interests and health circumstances. Health plans can tailor their marketing messages accordingly, by highlighting articles about the treatment of relevant medical conditions or sending reminders ahead of annual check-ups.Health plans can also discover when and how to communicate with members so they’re most likely to respond. When member profiles reveal who prefers an email or a text and when, health plans can elicit higher levels of engagement, improve the consumer experience and see better results from targeted outreach campaigns. Make improvement decisions based on the most relevant data Consumer insights can also be used to develop improvement plans that zero in on exactly what members need for the best possible health outcomes. Combining insights on patient behavior patterns with an understanding of the challenges facing individual members means health plans can segment members, so the right support goes to the right place.For example, efforts to drive up medication adherence are going to be far more successful if based off accurate and current member profiles. Specific members can be sent automated, personalized reminders to fill out prescriptions in good time before they run out. Compare that to a “spray and pray” awareness campaign using generic messages that are likely to be ignored. Data-led improvement strategies are operationally efficient and create a better experience for members. Help members overcome social barriers to health Finally, when member profiles include a snapshot of how social and economic factors influence their ability to access healthcare, health plans can take action to offer support. Closing the gaps in care that arise when a patient fails to turn up to their appointment or ends up being readmitted to hospital, can often involve quite simple solutions. If data suggests the member has small children, but there’s no other adult in the household, it makes sense to cross-promote childcare services. Similarly, if the member isn’t known to own a car, a health plan could offer information on free transportation.Understanding these social determinants of health can help health plans offer proactive support so members enjoy better health outcomes in the long run. Experian Health’s rich datasets give health plans access to member-level insights on more than 330 million consumers, with data analysis and automation tools to help make business decisions based on the most relevant, current data. Contact us to find out how we can help provide the personalized experience members are looking for.

    Many thought the end of COVID-19 was in sight with the availability of a vaccine, and while that is somewhat true, an entirely new set of issues has arrived: how to properly administer and manage the vaccine. Now that a COVID-19 vaccine is approved and underway, providers need to execute a medical billing and coding strategy to sustain vaccination efforts. We interviewed J. Scott Milne, senior director of product management at Experian Health, about what’s changed and what providers can do to prepare. How can providers ensure that vaccine administration codes are billed correctly? The ICD-10 and CPT codes for the COVID-19 vaccine haven’t existed until now, which means providers have a new set of codes to learn and unfortunately, those codes seem to change or update almost daily. As more vaccines are introduced, more codes are also introduced, and not just for the vaccine as a whole, but for each specific dose of the vaccine. For example, dose one of the Pfizer vaccine will have a code that differs entirely from dose two of the Moderna vaccine. Keeping up with these changes isn’t only difficult for provider staff, who are likely already stretched thin, but they certainly don’t want to run the risk of submitting a claim with incorrect information. The errors are what result in denials or undercharges. A solution like Claim Scrubber ensures code sets are current on a daily basis – a necessity for times like these – but applies an extensive set of general and payer-specific edits before preparing the claim for processing. That means claims for vaccine administration are error-free before submission to the payer or clearinghouse. Providers can eliminate undercharges, boost first-time pass through rates and do away with costly, time-consuming rework. But proper coding is only the first piece of the billing puzzle. The second piece is to verify the accuracy of payment received from third-party payers. How can providers ensure that third party payers will reimburse at the contracted rates? Providers can certainly get reimbursed for administering the vaccine, but there are a lot of moving parts to keep up with. For example, both Medicaid and Medicare will reimburse providers for administering COVID-19 vaccines, but the percentage of what is covered will differ by carrier and the reimbursement rates can vary both by state and type of arrangement. Reimbursement rates will also vary amongst private payers. Then there is the variation in reimbursement based on vaccine type and dosage — vaccines that require a single dose may be reimbursed at a rate different than those that require two doses. Even without the vaccine rollout underway it can be a headache for hospitals and health systems to manage multiple payer contracts and reimbursement methodologies. A solution like Contract Manager will pinpoint variance in reimbursement quickly and easily, accurately pricing claims and comparing actual allowed amounts to expected amounts. It is a tool built to adapt to changes within the industry, so providers can capitalize on emerging reimbursement schemes and changes in payer payment policies. It can also help identify sources and patterns of errors so recurring issues can be promptly resolved. The end result: the provider organization can the payer revenue that is due for vaccine administration. Interested in learning more about how providers can optimize vaccine-related reimbursements?   Other blog posts in this series: Segmenting your patient population for the COVID-19 vaccine Engaging patient segments with convenient, secure scheduling solutions Authenticating portal access with automation Optimizing reimbursements by capturing missing coverage

You may also like: Supercharge your COVID-19 vaccine management plan with digital solutions “Experian Health’s ability to move quickly and adapt their self-service platform to schedule vaccines for patients has been an invaluable improvement not only for our operations, but to the patient experience. The power to schedule the vaccine’s second dose after the first is administered helps us deliver on our commitment to providing reliable, quality care.” – Julie Frahm, director of consumer digital products at Sharp HealthCare The unpredictable nature of patient volume is a large part of what makes scheduling for the COVID-19 vaccine so difficult. Before now, providers haven’t had to manage mass appointment slots and registrations tied specifically to vaccinations. And even with those features streamlined, providers are still unsure of the best way to reach out to patients who are eligible for the vaccine to prompt them to schedule their appointment. Already a user of Experian Health’s Patient Schedule solution, Sharp HealthCare turned to online self-scheduling to improve patient access to the COVID-19 vaccine. With the solution in place, patients of Sharp HealthCare who are eligible for the vaccine can schedule their first dose online via computer or mobile phone. After answering a short set of questions, the scheduling solution will guide patients to a calendar of available day and time slots for receiving the first vaccination. After the first shot is administered, Sharp HealthCare staff can schedule patients for their second dose onsite, prior to leaving the office. Patients of Sharp HealthCare are consistently utilizing online self-scheduling to book appointments for their vaccinations. More than 1,000 vaccinations were scheduled in the first three weeks of online self-scheduling being available to patients. The ability for provider staff to help book the second dose of the vaccine for patients has also helped Sharp HealthCare deliver on their commitment to quality care, further ensuring the efficacy of the vaccine for each and every patient. Patients are also enjoying the expanded use of a self-service digital service, especially for a process that has been widely known to, at least thus far, be a detriment to the patient experience. Discover how Patient Schedule can improve vaccine management.

Learn how Coverage Discovery optimizes insurance verification for COVID-19 vaccinations, ensuring faster reimbursements for providers.

See how patient portal automation ensures secure access for vaccine scheduling. Simplify enrollment, reduce admin burdens, and more.

Take a poll of any healthcare facility’s visitors, and the majority will tell you they’d like to book appointments online. When Experian Health surveyed more than 860 consumers in late 2020 for its patient access trends survey, 78% of those surveyed said they wanted to schedule their own appointments, at any time of day or night, from their home or mobile device. But with only four in ten providers offering self-scheduling as a service, there’s a big opportunity for providers who offer digital patient access to attract and retain more patients by giving them what they want. Online self-scheduling allows patients to choose when and where they make their appointment. It is easier for patients, reduces no-shows, improves health outcomes and minimizes the risk of errors that can result in denied claims. But while online self-scheduling is meant to foster a better patient experience, not every solution is up to scratch. Providers need to offer an online scheduling experience that is user-friendly, reliable and accessible in order to create the best possible digital experience for both new and existing consumers. Patient portals can be a great location for existing patients to schedule appointments online, but what about new patients? Without an existing relationship or log in, new patients will likely click away from online scheduling services that require them to set up a new account or request a call. Unnecessary friction makes it harder to attract new patients. Given that 80% of patients would switch providers for convenience factors alone, offering online scheduling to brand new patients without requiring the additional step of creating an account could be a powerful attraction strategy. With manual scheduling, call center agents have to sift through multiple spreadsheets and binders to check calendars and scheduling rules in order to match patients with the right provider and appointment type. With a system like that in place it can be impossible to place more than a few patients each day. Patients that don’t want to wait or participate in lengthy calls often end up looking for care elsewhere. But if the right questions are guiding the online scheduling process, patients can be matched quickly to the right provider and book an appointment that fits with the provider’s calendar and scheduling rules. Adding a web-based scheduling service with guided search allowed Heritage Medical Associates to increase the number of patients placed from as few as three per day to as many as fifty per day, creating a better experience for patients, call center staff and physicians. Consumers want to schedule medical appointments the way they might book dinner reservation or a grocery delivery slot: they want to see all the available options for their preferred day, book on the spot and receive confirmation right there and then. They want to complete the scheduling process in real time – not waiting for a call back to confirm. CareMount Medical implemented an online scheduling platform to give patients real-time access to book appointments across all of their providers, which has appealed to both new and existing patients. Chief Information Officer, Nicholas Korchinski, says: “Yes, we have been able to acquire new patients, but our strategy was really about retention… Month over month we see double digit growth in use of the application, so our patients are benefiting more and more.” The ideal online scheduling platform will be flexible, accessible, and easy to use for both patients and staff. With Patient Schedule, providers can improve the patient experience, attract new patients and guide patients to the right provider without delay.

Providers know they need to improve their digital front door to withstand the financial impact of COVID-19, but change can feel risky, especially with so much uncertainty. Experian Health’s recent patient access survey offers a glimpse of what patients hope the digital front door will look like in 2021 and beyond. But what do providers see for the future of patient access? And are those views aligned? Providers that offer the most accessible patient access solutions in a post-pandemic world will secure greater patient satisfaction and loyalty.

The urgency to move quickly and vaccinate the population has introduced an entirely new set of challenges for providers regarding patient identity. Many continue to leverage existing processes and solutions already in place, manually handling the pain points that come with them, but now at scale and at an unprecedented rate. As the rollout moves forward, the strain on provider resources will only deepen, as will the risks associated with patient misidentification. The data mess behind the scenes Many patients are registering for the vaccine through a patient portal. While the self-service nature of signing up for the vaccine via a portal is beneficial, patients are unfortunately able to register for a portal account more than once. In fact, some of our clients have reported seeing as many as 1,800 duplicate records created per day. Those duplicate records are generated from some individuals who forgot their log-in account information and opted to create a new account, and others who simply forgot they had an account. With the sense of urgency to secure a vaccination appointment, consumers are moving at a rapid speed and simply want to grab a spot with the quickest credentials available. Regardless, multiple registrations for a single patient will create duplicate patient information. Duplicate records are not only costly (the estimated cost of remediation is $96 per duplicate pair), but they are an incredible drain on staff productivity, and ultimately, they are detrimental to patient safety. Multiple records of a single individual pose a risk for potential allergies, reactions, medical history and more. Even more, it is detrimental specifically to the efficacy of the vaccine as it will be harder to gauge in real time how many patients have been vaccinated, and at what stage, and make it more difficult to truly understand what percentage of the patient population has actually been vaccinated. UIM: not another stop-gap solution Experian’s Universal Identity Manager (UIM) platform is tailor-made for a situation like this as it was developed to create a single view of the same patient with their most current information. The matching technology accurately identifies patients and matches records within and across disparate healthcare organizations, providing a more complete understanding of who a patient is, despite the data gaps or errors that may exist in patient rosters. With it, providers are not only preventing duplicate and overlaid patient records but UIM can also minimize errors and fraud in patient records. It additionally improves staff productivity by decreasing the need for record reconciliation—a benefit likely welcomed by many if they are continuing to see anywhere near 1,800 duplicate records per day. When integrated with a solution like Precise ID, providers can both reconcile duplicate records, and effectively stop them from being created in the first place. By automating the patient portal enrollment process, healthcare organizations can remove the manual processes associated with portal enrollment, optimize critical IT staff resources while securing patient information and support a positive patient experience. State-of-the-art identity proofing, risk-based authentication and knowledge-based questions help providers securely verify each patient’s identity as they enroll for the patient portal. Explore how Experian Health can help resolve and enhance identities as part of the vaccine management process and beyond, not only by resolving duplicate records, but also by enhancing records with the best demographic and social determinants of health data available.

  Read the previous blog post in this Q&A series on segmenting patient populations for the COVID-19 vaccine. There are a lot of unknowns in the COVID-19 vaccine management process, which makes the rollout and administration of this vaccine even more challenging. Many providers are in the dark about how many vaccines they will get, they don’t know which patients to include and in what order and they aren’t sure how to keep staff from being overwhelmed. We interviewed Sanju Pratap, vice president of product management for consumer products at Experian Health, about what specifically is so challenging for scheduling the vaccine and what providers can do to prepare. What about the vaccine scheduling solution function is challenging providers? The unpredictable nature of available vaccines is a large part of what makes the scheduling for these vaccinations so difficult. Before now, providers haven’t had to manage mass quantities of appointment slots and related registrations and billing. And even with those features streamlined, providers are still unsure of the best way to reach out to eligible patients, in an equitable manner, to prompt them to schedule their appointment. What have we seen as the most effective and efficient way to schedule those patients for a vaccine? The ability to target patients specifically, either by email, phone or text, who are eligible for the vaccine can make a big difference. It removes a lot of the anxiety on the patient’s end while also making the scheduling experience as simple as possible for patients and staff. But outreach is just the first step. To really streamline the process, healthcare organization’s need to leverage a scheduling solution that incorporates scheduling rules and protocols. This ensures that a set number of appointments every day are designated for vaccinations and patients can see and schedule directly into those slots. When a patient schedules their vaccination through a system like this, providers can better track and recognize who needs to come in for a second dose. They can automate that process, by pushing out a message to the patient to schedule their second dose or offer to schedule that second dose on behalf of the patient before they leave the office using those same scheduling rules & inventory. How can a provider best equip the call center to handle volume and schedule appropriately the individuals who prefer to set an appointment that way? Given the high patient volume, the preferred method is for patients to schedule their appointment online, and for providers to push as much as they can online via self-service tools. This will minimize the initial load on the call center freeing agents to focus on those who truly need to schedule via the phone or need additional help. Even if a patient schedules their vaccination online, the information is shared with the call center which equips agents to help patients schedule their second dose. If or when a patient calls to schedule that dose, all agents need to do is search by first and last name, pull up the information and schedule the next dose on the spot. Watch our interview with Sanju below: Interested in learning more about how Experian Health can help supercharge the COVID-19 vaccine management process?

While the various waves of vaccine priority may be largely defined, the ability for many providers to segment their patient populations based on those designations isn’t always simple. Without accurate data, there’s a risk that some vulnerable patients will be missed out. We interviewed Mindy Pankoke, senior product manager at Experian Health, about the challenges in segmenting patient populations for the COVID vaccine and how providers can best overcome those challenges. How does addressing patients’ barriers to care increase vaccination rates? The early versions of this vaccination have two doses which comes with its own set of challenges. Getting a vaccination is one thing but getting people to follow up for a second dose in a certain time frame is another. It’s the non-clinical factors that will prevent patients from getting the vaccine. So, things like inflexible work schedules, lack of transportation or even the access or comfort levels with technology required to schedule an appointment online can prevent patients from receiving or prioritizing the first and/or second dose. It can be an uneven playing field with those patients that do not have more flexible schedules, a vehicle or even access to the proper technology to schedule and register for both doses. It’s much easier for patients to prioritize getting the vaccine when those non-clinical factors are a non-issue. What challenges may providers face when trying to segment patient populations for vaccine administration? There are a lot of gaps in patient demographics which can make it difficult for providers to accurately identify and segment patients. Think information like date of birth or occupation. If providers want to segment by age, which many will likely do for the first wave of vaccinations, that would require a complete record of every patient with an accurate birth date. Providers may also want to segment by occupation, knowing essential workers are also eligible for the vaccine. But how can you understand who is an essential worker? Especially when that definition may vary by state or local government? Including non-clinical insights and enhancing demographic data as part of the patient record can help providers fill in the gaps and better segment patient populations for vaccine administration. By combining the power of Experian’s consumer demographic information with more than 40 years of experience compiling consumer data from self-reported and state license boards, Experian Health is able to drill down into occupation data to view different types of employment (construction, utility, etc.) for you to use to outreach, verify and streamline the scheduling (and automated scheduling) or the COVID vaccination. What are some best practices to move from identifying at risk or priority populations and operationalizing that information into actually administering the vaccine to those groups? This is really where it all comes together, and really where providers need to act fast. Once a group is identified, providers can automate the process as much as possible. First, it is imperative that providers clean up their data. Recent processing of Experian’s Universal Identity Manager solution has identified 1,800 duplicate records in COVID vaccination registrations, for individual facilities. Providers can remove the duplicates, enhance the demographics where they may be out of date or missing, and put in place a proactive system to call out and prevent duplicates moving forward. And the vaccine has a shelf life, correct? So even after segmenting the right patients, how can providers act fast to ensure it is administered? So another best practice is to automate the scheduling for as many vaccination appointments possible. With a tool like Patient Schedule, providers can leverage the demographic data to programmatically push out a notification to a patient’s cell phone via IVR or text message, have them verify their eligibility based on the age or occupation data from Experian, and then allow the patient to book their appointment on the spot for a time that works best with their schedule. On the back end, the Patient Schedule solution syncs with the clinic or mobile vaccination site’s calendar to confirm the appointment, allowing staff the opportunity to tackle other pieces of the COVID vaccination strategy. Anything else you’d like to add? Providers will also want to risk stratify using social determinants of health insight on the individual level. Patients in every wave of vaccine priority present an opportunity for better patient engagement (68% of the US is impacted by at least one social determinant of health hindering them from accessing or prioritizing their care). Many patients will need help adhering to that second dose and knowing that information and those circumstances on the individual level can help providers engage in the best way possible to ensure the vaccine is administered correctly. Interested in learning more about how Experian Health can help supercharge the COVID-19 vaccine management process?